Indiana's Cody Zeller (40) and Yogi Ferrell (11) celebrate after defeating Michigan State 75-70 in an NCAA college basketball game on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, in Bloomington, Ind.AP Photo

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Keith Appling apologized to the rest of
the Michigan State Spartans in the locker room after the 75-70 loss to Indiana.

In a nationally-televised battle for first place in the Big Ten,
Appling was largely absent, scoring three points in only 19 minutes while sitting for long
stretches as he struggled with foul trouble before fouling out with 5:17 left.

"Not to be able to be out there on the floor with my
teammates, that's painful especially knowing that if I was out there, we could
have been able to pull away a little bit," Appling said.

The junior point guard and team captain could only watch
from the bench as Michigan State committed three of their 19 turnovers in the final three
minutes while trying to break through after a Gary Harris dunk drew the
Spartans as close as 71-70 with 3:32 left.

Travis Trice came off the bench to play 30 minutes and had
five assists and five turnovers, with the biggest one being a 10-second
violation with the Spartans trailing by two. Later, Derrick Nix was whistled for
traveling while scrambling for a loose ball and Adreian Payne was whistled for
an offensive foul.

"It had a big impact," Nix said of Appling being on the
bench late in the game. "Keith's a playmaker."

In the Spartans' previous game against an opponent ranked
seventh in the nation, Appling came through with big shots late in the Kansas
game to help them pull off the upset.

Facing Indiana, he was matched up against freshman Yogi Ferrell
and proceeded to pick up two first-half fouls. With 14:42 left, he picked up
his fourth personal on a hand-check. The fifth came 10 minutes later.

"He did not use his head at all," Izzo said of the fifth foul.

The whistles rendered him unavailable to the Spartans when they needed him most.

"In a game like this, I just can't allow myself to get in
foul trouble," said Appling, who hoped the team would remain positive.

"You can't hang your head on one loss because that one can
turn into three or four."